Résistance
by The Canadian Rifleman
Summary: An AU set in the Second World War. In this story, the Faunus replace the Jewish as the targets of the Nazi genocide. Almost all the characters of RWBY are included in this fic where they will live, love and die through the perils of this historical war. Rated M for dark themes, language, graphic violence.
1. Life Isn't A Fairy-Tale

**Author's Note: So just to clear everything up, this fic will be an AU set in WWII. Instead of Jews, the Faunus will be the ones subjected to the genocide. Like the Summary shows, this'll be Adventure with Romance on the sidelines. Well, maybe not the sidelines. More like smack-dab in the middle of the field. But either way, it won't be the main focus of this story. Romance won't even be present for a good portion of it. You can expect to see a little Bumblebee, some White Rose and maybe some Arkos, but I haven't decided on that last one yet.**

**You should be advised that the story will go a little dark at times, as it should, considering it deals with war and the Holocaust. People will die. Others will cry. You might even cry. I think that might one of my eventual objectives, to make a few of you cry. Sorry.**

**I'm not sure about the rating. I want to put it at T, but there will be much swearing and very descriptive graphic violence, so it might go up to M. I'll keep it T for now, or at least until it gets really bad.**

**I think that's everything, so without further ado, I give you: ****_Résistance_****.**

* * *

**Chapter 1: Life Isn't A Fairy-Tale**

**June 3rd, 1944.**

Yang slowly awoke in her bed, and smiled when she smelled Blake's pleasant smell emanating from beside her. She knew it was reckless, to have Blake sleeping with her out in the open. However, over time they've slacked their efforts to hide her from the authorities. Not because they cared less, but simply because it was tiring to keep her hidden, and the police really hadn't started busting down doors without suspicion just yet. Not to mention it wasn't easy to try to keep a cat confined to the small storage room-turned-hidden-den. Simply put, they didn't feel threatened very much at this point.

However, when Yang opened her eyes, Blake was nowhere to be seen. Yang shot up, frantically darting around the room, hoping to see Blake's sleek form somewhere in the bedroom. She saw nothing but the ugly pasty yellow colour of the walls and the mess that she always left lying around the room. A million and one things ran through her head at that moment. '_Where did she go? She's not one to run off for no reason. They have to have something to do with this. I'm sure of it. Those bastards took her away. Took her to that _maudite_ camp. Well they just must not know who they're dealing with now._' These thoughts crossed Yang's mind at the speed of light, and as they did, her eyes slowly drifted from lilac to blood-red in colour. Yang jumped up from her bed and marched for the door, a look of determination and the promise of serious bodily harm engraved in her face. She opened the door and inspected the living room quickly as she ran into it.

The room sported pale red coloured walls, and on them, a few paintings and portraits hung. One of these was a family portrait. In it was the father, a blonde-haired man with silver eyes, wearing a short brown jacket with equally short sleeves. The mother in the photo had long red-tipped black hair and lilac eyes, and wore a red cloak and hood at her shoulders. In front of them were two young girls. The taller and older-looking one of the two had lilac coloured eyes and long blonde hair, which went along nicely with the yellow and black outfit she wore. The younger and much shorter one of the two bore red-tipped black hair and silver eyes. Her outfit was red and black.

Yang didn't take particular notice to the portrait and scanned the rest of the room. The plain brown furniture pieces that littered the floor were unoccupied; however it was obvious somebody had taken ownership of the large couch that faced the wall where a radio sat on a table. She turned to her left and faced the open kitchen door. Through it, she saw Blake leaning against the counter, still wearing her nightgown. Relief filled every fiber of her being at the sight and her face softened, tears of joy almost forming in her eyes.

"Blake!" Yang yelled as she ran through said kitchen door and into Blake's arms.

The kitchen was nothing special; the walls were some shade of off-white and rows of wooden cupboards lined two of said walls. A stove was set in the middle of one of the rows, and a sink was situated in the middle of the other.

Blake tensed up at Yang's contact, and her eyes filled with shock and almost fear as she tried desperately not to drop the cup of coffee she held in her hand.

"Yang, quiet down, for god's sake. Do you want to tell the whole building that you're hiding me here?" Blake said to Yang in French. Yang retreated from her hug and held Blake's shoulders as she looked into her eyes.

"You scared the living hell out of me!" Yang answered a lot quieter than her earlier shout, as well as in French. Her eyes faded back to their original lilac in a few seconds time. Blake gave her a quizzical look.

"I thought they took you away," Yang continued, tears almost starting again in her lilac eyes, "when you weren't there when I woke up…" Blake's expression turned to one of compassion and concern. She gave her a kiss and held her close in her arms for several moments.

"Don't worry, I'm still here. I'm not going anywhere." Blake whispered soothingly to Yang. When she let go, Yang seemed to have calmed down, so Blake switched her tone from comforting to her every day mellow, almost matter-of-fact tone.

"Besides, if they had came in here to take me, you can sure as hell bet they would have taken you with me." Yang nodded, realizing that her earlier worry and anger wasn't rationally justified, but then a thought came to her.

"Why weren't you in bed this morning? You always wait for me to wake up before you get up." Yang looked at Blake with a confused look. Blake raised her cup of coffee she still held in her hand and replied.

"Coffee." Yang's confused look only deepened as she fixated her gaze on the familiar cup of coffee that Blake made for herself every morning.

"But you always make those at nine, and only nine. You're all OCD about it. And it's only seven." A smirk appeared on Blake's face as she nodded towards the kitchen clock. Yang turned her head to look at it and found that it did not read seven like she believed, but rather, it read nine-o-six. Yang's eyes widened as she turned her face back towards Blake's which was half-hidden behind the cup of coffee from which she was sipping.

"_Maudit_, I'm late for work!" Yang began to run towards her bedroom to get ready, but was stopped by her arm, which was mysteriously locked in place. She turned back to see Blake holding onto it firmly, all the while suppressing a giggle.

"Blake! Let go, I've got to get to work!" Blake did not let go, instead she pulled Yang back towards her, close enough for her to whisper in her ear.

"It's Saturday. You don't work Saturdays." Yang's eyes widened at the realization.

"Oh…" Yang let out of her mouth that had been left slightly agape.

Suddenly Ruby walked into the kitchen. She was wearing her school attire, a white blouse and dark over-shirt with a plaid skirt. She didn't have school today, it was Saturday after all, but she had grown accustomed to wearing it for work. Her black hair was still wet from the bath she had just taken, which only made her natural red highlights more apparent.

"I heard you were awake." Ruby said humorously, also in French, as she started to cut a slice of bread to make herself breakfast.

"I think everyone did." Blake added. Ruby turned away from her breakfast and leaned back on the counter, facing her.

"So what did you do? Did you bite her again?" Blake's cheeks reddened, as she took another sip of her coffee and looked away from Ruby in embarrassment. It wouldn't be the first time Blake's gotten a little too excited while spending 'quality time' with Yang.

"No, nothing like that," Yang said, brushing it off, "she just scared me, that's all." Ruby nodded.

"Uh-huh." She was not one hundred percent convinced.

Ruby finished making her breakfast while Yang started to make her own. Blake sat at the table, sipping on her coffee while reading the newspaper. Ruby turned to face everyone, and in the middle of her bite asked:

"So, what are you guys doing today?" Blake didn't feel the need to answer. She'd be doing what she has been doing every day for the past two years: reading books and cleaning the house. Since she couldn't go out to work, she had to find some way of contributing to the household for the food and shelter Yang and Ruby gave her, so she did all the housework while Yang and Ruby worked to make money enough for three.

"Well, since apparently it's Saturday, I guess I'll be going out and running some errands. We need bread and milk, and maybe I can find some eggs or butter this week. I might pick up some beef for tonight too." Yang responded.

"Wine." Blake said from behind her newspaper. Yang turned to face the paper that stood between her and Blake.

"Are we running low on wine too?" Yang walked to where they kept the wine, while Ruby looked down and took another bite of her breakfast. Yang pulled out an almost empty bottle of red wine, with an expression of surprise and confusion on her face.

"This thing was full a few days ago!" Yang exclaimed. She shifted her attention to Ruby, who was trying to sneak away.

"Oh no, you don't!" Yang said as she reached and grabbed Ruby by the shoulder with her free hand and pulled her back into the kitchen. She turned Ruby around to face her. Ruby wore a nervous smile, while Yang wore a disappointed frown.

"Did you drink this?" Yang inquired, holding the bottle close to Ruby's face. Ruby scratched the back of her head.

"I may… have had a few glasses in the past few days…"

"Ruby! We can't have you drinking all of our wine! This stuff isn't cheap, you know. It's really hard to find this stuff! We only drink this when I say we do." Ruby could tell her sister was beginning to get a little mad; the shade of her eyes started to change.

"I'm sorry. I just really wanted some and Blake said it was okay and…" Yang suddenly let go of Ruby and turned towards Blake, who had stopped moving entirely. Her ears were raised in full attention out from behind the paper.

"You let my sister have more wine?" Blake's ears twitched almost painfully at the tone of her voice.

"Yang…" Blake calmly began to try and reason with Yang. After spending so much time with her, one would think she'd know better by now.

"Oh no, Blake. There's no talking your way out of this. I didn't tell you that you could make decisions for Ruby." Yang's rant was cut short, effectively saving Blake's ears

"Hey! I'm old enough to make decisions for myself!" Ruby pouted. Yang sighed.

"Yes. Yes you are. However, I'm the one that bought this wine. Therefore I decide who gets it and when, and for the next few days, neither of you," Yang pointed at Ruby, then turned and pointed at Blake, "get any." Yang finished with a smile.

"Yaaang!" Ruby complained. Blake simply sighed and Yang smiled contently.

"You've had enough wine in the past few days to last you a week."

Blake was not pleased. She knew she wouldn't get any reading in if the two sisters kept quarreling like this. Hell, she wouldn't get any reading in if either of them stayed. Yang was too loud and when Ruby wasn't there, too touchy-feely, and Ruby would run around the apartment complaining about boredom. So, Blake devised a plan.

"Ruby, what are you doing this morning?" she asked. Both sisters paused their quarrel. Ruby stuttered thoughtfully.

"Um… I… nothing, I guess." Blake smiled. This might work.

"Then you can go help Yang with her shopping. You can buy your own wine if you'd like. You could also get yourself something at the bakery. Besides," Blake turned to Yang, who did not seem too thrilled about bringing her hyper-active little sister grocery shopping, "it might be faster if the both of you went." Ruby's face lit up at the prospect of cookies and wine, while Yang's darkened as she gave her girlfriend a look that said: 'You're gonna pay for this later'. Blake simply responded with a smirk.

"So when are we going?" Ruby asked Yang impatiently. Yang sighed.

"Let me change first." Yang looked over at the kitchen clock. It was almost nine-thirty. "Give me at least fifteen minutes."

"Nine-forty-five it is." Ruby declared with mock-authority. Blake exhaled contently, relieved that she'd soon be alone. Don't be mistaken, she really liked the two sisters. They had, after all, helped hide her with them no questions asked when they all heard about what was going on down at the _Vél' d'Hiv'_. In fact, they were the closest thing she had to a family now. However sometimes, their combined presence could be a bit much. Especially when Blake was trying to read.

Ruby and Yang left at nine-forty-six, which, thanks to Ruby, did not help Yang's mood at all. Blake sighed contently as she heard the door shut and lock. The apartment fell silent, and a sense of security washed over Blake. She got up, walked over to the bedroom and lay down on what Yang and she now called 'their' bed. She picked up the book she left on the nightstand on her side of the bed and started reading where she last left off.

* * *

Ruby and Yang were walking down the streets of Paris, window shopping at certain shops and buying stuff at others. Well, Yang was walking. Ruby was doing something more akin to jumping or hopping. You see, they had already stopped at the bakery, and, long story short, Jean the baker needs to bake up a new batch of cookies. They still had a few more places to go to. Notably, they hadn't stopped for wine or beef yet.

Yang was wearing a simple yet pretty yellow blouse that she had thrown on in haste, as well as a plain knee-length black skirt. Yang didn't like skirts or dresses very much; she would much prefer to wear pants like the men do, however, it was not socially accepted. She didn't care much that it wasn't socially accepted, no, that wouldn't stop her from wearing pants, and it didn't in the past. The problem was that things had changed. With France under the indirect rule of the Nazi Empire, standing out in a crowd was a dangerous thing. A very dangerous thing and she didn't want to take any chances, not with her little sister and her Faunus lover living in her apartment. She sacrificed in this small way to keep them safe.

They kept 'walking' in the general direction of their next stop, until Yang noticed that Ruby was no longer hopping beside her.

"Ruby?" she called out, twisting her head left and right looking for her little sister. She spotted her standing motionless about ten meters behind her, staring at something on the wall of one of the buildings. Yang ran back to her.

"Ruby, what's up?" she said, looking up at what was preoccupying Ruby so much, to find it was a poster. Actually, there were two posters placed side by side. The first displayed a Faunus hiding in the shadows, with a bright yellow Faunus identification badge on their clothes that made them more visible in the darkness. The poster read: 'The Faunus assassinate from the darkness, let's identify them to better recognize them!' This poster was older, and obviously pre-_Vél' d'Hiv'_ Roundup. It even showed signs of fading from the passing seasons. The one by its side was a newer one though. This one displayed a chart that explained how to identify Faunus hiding in plain sight. 'Faunus can be identified by distinctive animal ears, horns or tails. They will most likely be hiding these. Look for strange hats, headgear or bulges in the back of pants and dresses. Also look for strange-looking eyes, teeth and hands, as well as strange or animalistic eating habits. If you see anybody you think might be a Faunus, tell the nearest police officer or soldier at once. Be warned that they should always be considered extremely dangerous.' The posters disgusted Yang, but she did her best not to show it lest someone happened to be looking at her.

"Ugh. _Rien qu'un tas de merde_!" Ruby exclaimed. Yang's eyes widened in worry as she grabbed her sister.

"Shush, not so loud," she whispered, "do you want to get us arrested?" Ruby groaned.

"No of course not. It's just really, really getting on my nerves. I mean, look at this... this shit!" she said, waving at the posters, "Assassins? Really? Blake's never killed anyone, has she? Velvet wouldn't hurt a fly either."

"They're just trying to scare more people into being _collabo_s by spreading lies. Don't let them get to you." Yang was trying hard to get Ruby to calm down. Ruby took some of it in, but wouldn't have all of it. She pulled her sister to another poster further down the wall. This one portrayed a smiling German soldier with happy smiling French children. It read: 'Abandoned people, Trust in the German soldier'.

"Nothing but lies." Ruby declared. "Dad and... and uncle Qrow... They didn't abandon us, right? You said they didn't." Ruby was having trouble choking out the words, but regained her composure. Yang nodded.

"That's right. Dad's fighting for us in the south, remember?" Yang said, keeping her voice low and as soothing as she could make it, still trying to calm Ruby down. Ruby nodded.

"And Qrow's... Qrow they... he's gone." Ruby finished, tears forming in her eyes. Yang hugged Ruby tightly.

"They took him from us, but don't let them get to you. One day, the allies and the Free French Forces will come and free us." Yang was whispering softly into Ruby's ear, both to sooth and to avoid trouble with the law. Any mention of the Free French Forces in public could get you arrested. Ruby pushed Yang away.

"Oh stop with that bullshit!" she exclaimed in frustration, voice cracking with emotion, "I don't want to just sit around and wait for people to come and rescue us. I want to do something! Contribute!" Ruby and Yang were very lucky that there were not many people on this street, and the few that did pass by were more interested in the shops on the other side of the street, as their side of the street only showed the brick side wall of another building.

"Ruby, we are going to wait. I'm not gonna let you go out and get yourself killed. And if you get caught, they'll come get me, and they'll find Blake." Yang said, once again in a whisper. Ruby didn't like it, but she understood what Yang was trying to say. She nodded, though somewhat reluctantly.

"Fine." she said. Yang smiled.

"Good. Now, let's go get some more wine. I think we deserve it. I'm sure Blake will appreciate the good times that'll come out of it too, won't she?" Yang said with a devious smirk. Ruby giggled a tad, and they continued on their way, putting away with all the negativity that surrounded their conversation.

* * *

Ruby and Yang had continued their shopping. While stopping for wine, Ruby was taken aback by the prices of even the low-end brands of wine, but thankfully for her she was able to find a really cheap bottle of local red wine that she could get her hands on. They also picked up a piece of one of the cheaper _morceau_s of meat at the meat shop. When they finally got back to the apartment, the place was nearly spotless.

"Wow, Blake. You really cleaned this place up!" Yang exclaimed as Ruby was left to carry the groceries to the kitchen. Blake was sitting on a chair in the living room, finishing up a book.

"I do this every weekend." she said, closing the book and putting it down on the coffee table in front of her.

"I know," Yang replied, "and it's awe-inspiring how you can make away with all our dirt and crap and get this place squeaky-clean, each time." Yang walked up to Blake slowly and leaned in for a kiss.

A few moments later, Ruby walked through the kitchen door and into the living room.

"I'm huuuunngry!" she whined, head tilted back and facing the ceiling. When she brought her head back to a more normal position, she fidgeted. Yang and Blake both seemed to have not noticed her and still had their tongues in each other's mouths.

"I'm… gonna go wait in the kitchen… you guys can… um… come join me later… or something…" Ruby said as she slowly backed away. As soon as she was done talking though, she bolted through the door.

Yang and Blake separated from their embrace. Blake looked a little worried about Ruby walking in moments before. Yang, however, gave her a reassuring smile.

"Does she…" Blake started, not reassured by the smile her partner gave her.

"Naw, don't worry. She's okay with that. She actually used to have a crush on one of her school friends for a little while." Yang looked up reminiscently. She remembered how nervous Ruby was when she told her. Ruby was almost crying when Yang said she was okay with it. Not many people were. Ruby was lucky that her sister was of similar sexual preference, and as Yang thought, so was she. Yang was able to convince Ruby to tell her friend about her feelings. Considering the general socio-political opinion, it wasn't one of Yang's brightest ideas. Still, Ruby managed to muster enough strength to tell her friend. Sadly, the feeling was not mutual, but understanding what it was like to be cast out and discriminated against, Velvet was supportive of Ruby anyway, and they remained friends until the events of the _Vél' d'Hiv'_.

"Anyway, I'm hungry, and I think Ruby just might be a little hungry as well." she said with the big dumb smile she often wore. "Let's go make lunch."

* * *

They all sat at the dinner table eating the lunch that Blake made and that Yang 'helped' with. The room filled with discussions on various topics, such as Ruby's upcoming graduation and the excellent lunch that Blake had prepared. The topic of conversation eventually drifted to the afternoon.

"Well, I'm not working today, so I've got the entire afternoon to myself." Yang announced after gulping down a rather over-sized bite of food. She leaned in closer to Blake and continued in a whisper: "Or to you." Blake almost started choking on her food, but managed to swallow. Desperate to avoid a **very** awkward moment once again, Blake continued the conversation.

"What about you Ruby? Are you working this afternoon?"

"Yep. Oh, _merde_! What time is it?" Ruby looked around for the clock. It read thirteen-twenty-seven. Ruby calmed down a little, before she continued.

"I work from fourteen'o'clock until an hour before the curfew. I should get going soon." With that, Ruby figuratively inhaled the rest of her lunch. "Hey, Blake, are you done with that book I borrowed for you two days ago?" Ruby asked as she got up to get ready to leave.

"Yes, I left it on the coffee table. Thank you again." she replied. Ruby walked to the coffee table and picked up the book. She tossed it into her backpack just before slinging that onto her shoulder and walking out the door.

"Well well well." Yang leaned in closer to Blake from across the table with a mischievous smile on her face. "Looks like I've got the entire afternoon to myself… or to you." Yang consciously repeated her earlier words in the hopes they would fetch as great of a reaction as the first time, or even better.

Blake put her hand on Yang's face and gently pushed her away. Blake removed her hand from Yang's face, revealing a slight pout. Blake smirked in amusement.

"You have the afternoon to yourself; I've got a book to read."

"Oh, come on!" Yang complained. "You have all the time in the world to read that _maudite_ book!" Blake stood up, walked over to the kitchen sink and started doing the dishes. Yang followed her, but instead of doing dishes, crossed her arms and stared at her favourite Faunus.

"I do not have all the time in the world, Yang. Ruby can only borrow these free of charge for a few days at a time. If we want to avoid more unnecessary costs, I need to read these quickly." Blake explained, all the while washing a few plates. Yang walked up closer to Blake, and wrapped her arms around her waist from behind in a loving embrace that took Blake by surprise. Blake froze. She did not anticipate the sudden contact, and Yang relished in the feeling of her girlfriend going rigid in her grasp.

"It doesn't take seventy-two hours to read a book, especially for you. I think you can spare an hour or two…" Yang whispered into Blake's ear. She brought her right hand up to play with Blake's hair, slowly moving it up through her hair and towards her head.

"Yang…" Blake tried to get her to stop, but was unsuccessful. Yang's hand moved all the way up to the top of Blake's head, and she started to gently caress the ears that inhabited it.

"Yang… pl-please s-stop…" Blake stuttered out, trying very hard and failing to suppress her enjoyment.

"You know you want to." Yang sang out. Blake clenched her teeth in frustration. She let her muscles slack, giving in to Yang's advances.

"Fine-" Blake started to say. She however was cut off by cheering coming from directly behind her.

"YEAH!"

"But **only**," Blake cut back in, "**after** I finish these dishes. And I don't want it to take too long either." Yang slumped her shoulders in defeat, but quickly straitened her back.

"Fine, but I'll be waiting…" she walked over to the kitchen door and turned back, "in the bedroom." She gave a devious grin as she walked out.

Blake turned back to her dishes, an amused smirk brandished on her face. She loved the blonde brute, and all the insanity she carried around with her, to death. She just hoped that Ruby was able to keep her craziness in line when she wasn't there. It wasn't uncommon for Yang's bodacious personality to get her in trouble. Blake just wanted everything to be okay. This 'funny war' as they called it, was getting tiresome. She wanted it to go away. She wanted things to go back to the way they were before. She wanted it to be like her romance novels, where everything turned out perfectly. Sadly, life isn't a fairy-tale.

* * *

**Author's Note: Well that was interesting. I didn't expect there to be so much bumblebee. It just sorta happened.**

**I blame Yang.**

**There's no fanart out there that I can find that really matches this AU well, so for now it'll just be whatever I decide to put up there.**

**Ok, so I know it's a long-shot, but if any of you happen to speak German to a fluent extent, I could use some help with translation. I want to do the same thing I'm doing with the French for when I eventually introduce German characters (guess who). Unlike the French, I can't do it by myself because I don't speak German and I don't trust Google translate. If any of you out there can help me, that'd be amazing and very much appreciated, if not, I'll try to do my best with what I have.**

**Hope you all like it so far. I think it could be better. This is also the boring part of the story. The excitement will increase in the next few chapters. Updates will be unorganized. I want to upload every two weeks, but I don't want to make a promise I can't keep. The second chapter is already written up; I just have to revise it. I'll be posting that in a week's time.**

**Special thanks to two of my friends who looked this over and helped make sure it was at least decent. I would also like to thank enlfenlied1012, author of the famed Vale series and a good friend of mine, for encouraging the release of this and also giving it a look-over and giving tips and corrections. I probably would have delayed it for two or three more weeks was it not for him and his words of wisdom. If you haven't read any of his fics, I'd definitely recommend them. They're among the best I've read.**

**If you have any comments or questions about anything, anything at all, you can ask me in a review or a PM. I plan on answering every single one of them. Criticism is also very welcome. Don't hold back on any negative feedback. I'm a big boy; I can take it. I also feel I need it. This is far below the standard I would like my writing to be at.**

**Sorry for the very long A/Ns. Future ones should be shorter. Anyway, 'til next time, you beautiful people, you.**

_**"I don't ask for much. Truth be told, I'd settle for a life less frightening."**_  
_**– Life Less Frightening, Siren Song of the Counter Culture (2004), Rise Against.**_


	2. Today Was A Good Day

**Chapter 2: Today Was A Good Day**

**June 3****rd****, 1944.**

Ruby was finishing up putting away the returned books to their appropriate sections. When she did, she walked the cart back to the front counter and placed herself behind said counter. You see, Ruby worked part-time at the local library to make money to sustain the strange family that she, Yang and Blake now had. It served a few other purposes as well. Blake could borrow books free of charge to satisfy her literary needs, and Ruby could also borrow books for herself. On top of that, it wasn't very busy, so Ruby could do all of her homework while she waited for customers to show up. She made good money, the workload wasn't too much and she wasn't losing too much of her free time since she could do her homework there. It was a good place to work.

The place itself was rather large. There was a large open area in the front and centre of the building, which was framed by a loft that effectively gave the rest of the building's interior a second floor. The loft and the area of the first floor under it were rowed with towering wood bookshelves. The shelves were so large that poor little old Ruby carried around a ladder, one that could hook on to the edges of the shelves, in the lower section of her cart just so she could reach the higher shelves.

The main counter, where books were borrowed, returned and fees were paid, was situated in the earlier mentioned open area. This is where Ruby spent seventy-five percent of her time at the library. The other twenty-five was spent helping customers and putting books back in their places. The large U-shaped counter was made of a dark oak wood, but it was old and had seen better days. Still, Ruby liked it. She felt important behind it, and it wasn't uncomfortable to sit at and do homework or take care of the book-keeping.

Over the course of the next few hours, Ruby sat at that same counter doing multiple things. A large part of her time was spent doing her homework, reluctantly one might add. She also dealt with people walking in to return books, borrow books and pay late fees. Almost all of them were regulars that Ruby knew well from working there for almost two years. Many of them even gave her words of encouragement with her homework, which were the only things that kept on top of it. Ruby took periodic breaks from her homework to attend to the book-keeping and also went back to return the returned books to their respective sections one more time an hour before closing.

When Ruby finished doing this, she returned to the main counter. What she found waiting there were two French Police Officers. Ruby froze when she saw this. '_Oh no, hugh…_' she thought. Ruby swallowed hard before she continued to make her way to the counter, finally coming into view and catching the attention of the officers. She gave a nervous smile as she approached the front of the counter where they waited patiently for her.

"Uh… How can I help you two officers?" Ruby greeted.

The first of the two officers was older than the other, maybe in his forties. He had greying hair hidden under his cap, and an attractive mustache of the same shade of grey as his hair. He was taller and a little bigger than the other officer. His face seemed kind behind his mustache, and his complexion was slightly pink. His posture was more relaxed and he smiled with squinting eyes when Ruby spoke.

This officer made Ruby a little more comfortable. The same could not be said about his partner. The second officer was younger, maybe twenty-five, at most. His face and hair was clean cut, and his sharp features and pale complexion were easy to see. His face also bore a stern look. His posture was impeccable, and his eyes, dark and piercing. Ruby shivered at the sight.

"I'm constable Port. This little runt here is my partner, officer Sévère." The older gentleman introduced warmly. Officer Sévère was the one to continue.

"We'd like to ask you a few questions, young lady." Sévère said bluntly.

"Uh… Sure!" Ruby complied.

Port leaned against the counter, while Sévère remained straight-backed and pulled out a note book.

"Do you have any illegal books here?" was the first question that came out of his mouth. Ruby gave him a look that blended confusion and offense. Did he think she was stupid?

"Of course not. Those were all taken away before I even started working here." She responded. She tried not to sound too hostile. Sévère nodded slowly and took down notes.

"Have you seen anyone suspicious walk in over the course of the last few weeks?" he asked.

"No. Almost everyone who walks in has been coming since before I started working here. Regulars. No new people since over a month ago." Sévère took more notes down, and flipped to the next page of his notebook.

"Look, I'm sure an intelligent young lady such as yourself knows exactly what we're getting at here. Have you seen any of those Faunus rascals?" Port asked, turning towards her. Sévère glared at his older partner.

"That is not how this is supposed to proceed!" he yelled in a whisper.

"I don't give a _cul de rat_, pardon my language," he turned to say to Ruby, before turning back towards his partner, "about procedure. This young gal is not an imbecile; she knows exactly why we're here. No sense beating around the bush." Port remained calm while his partner stood still and boiled.

"So?" Port asked, turning to Ruby.

"No, I'm sorry but I haven't seen a Faunus in Paris since '42." She answered.

"It's not just Faunus," Officer Sévère started, "have you seen **anyone** suspicious or out of place in the past few weeks?"

"We believe the rebels have a hide out somewhere in this area, and we must find them at once." Port added. Sévère sighed in frustration, but decided not to argue with his partner.

"You think that could be here? In a library? Last time I checked, you can't make a bomb with these." Ruby said, motioning to the rows of books all around them. The junior officer grumbled at the humorous response, but said nothing.

"We still have to check everywhere, every weekend like clockwork. Would it be too much trouble for me to take a look at the basement?" Constable Port continued.

"No, I don't mind at all. We used to use it for storage, but we don't have so many books anymore so we barely use it now. It's practically empty. I'm sure my boss wouldn't mind if I loaned you the key for a little to go check. I have to stay here just in case someone walks in and needs me though."

"Right! The key! Thank you, yes. Sévère, you can stay and hold the fort up here again. I won't be too long." Port called back to Sévère, all the while this latter glared almost accusingly at Ruby.

Ruby proceeded to sit down at the counter and worked on the end-of-the-day book keeping. Officer Sévère simply stood by the counter and watched her. Ruby tried to ignore his gaze as best she could, but she eventually gave up. She put down her pencil and turned to him.

"Do you mind?" she asked, annoyance showing in her voice. Officer Sévère narrowed his eyes at her. Ruby suddenly felt a little bit of fear, but did not let herself show it.

"I'm just doing my job." He said, his voice slow and intense.

"Well I'm trying to do mine, and you're bothering me." Ruby retorted.

"Well I'm sorry." Ruby detected some sarcasm in his voice, but took it anyway and returned to her work.

It was not long before Constable Port returned. He gave Ruby the key back and confirmed that it indeed was practically empty, no sign of illegal activity.

"Well, I think that should about wrap things up here. Thank you for your time, _ma fille_." Port turned and looked at the large clock suspended above the main entrance. "We should get going now, Sévère, we've got two more buildings to investigate before curfew. Speaking of which," Port once again turned to look at Ruby, "you should be heading home soon. Curfew is in just over an hour." Ruby smiled at him.

"Not to worry, the library closes in five minutes anyway. I'm headed home right after." Before Port could respond, Sévère cut in.

"That's good, that's good. Now can we get going already?" Ruby wasn't certain of it, but she was pretty sure she saw Port shoot her a smile from under that voluminous mustache of his and an eye-roll from behind his squinty eyes.

"Stay safe, child." He told her as he walked out the main entrance, following an impatient Officer Sévère.

Ruby finished up what was left of her work, before looking over the rest of the building for stragglers. She noted that no one was left in the building, except for her. She proceeded to close up the building, making sure every door was locked and all the lights, turned off. Without the lights and the people, the library was much darker and much creepier than before. Ruby left the building and headed home through the almost unlit streets of Paris.

* * *

Ruby arrived at the apartment at twenty-one-twelve. She fetched her key from out of the pouch she wore on the belt of her skirt. Even while Ruby and or Yang were at home, they kept the door locked on the off chance that someone were to walk in without knocking and see a pair of cat ears they were not supposed to. Ruby turned the key and heard the audible sliding of the bolt. She rotated the handle, opened the door and walked in.

"I'm home guys!" she announced as she closed the door behind her and locked the door.

In the living room, Blake sat in the armchair with the book that Ruby had borrowed for her the day before. Blake had changed since Ruby had left earlier in the day. She was wearing her nightgown again, which she had previously changed out of while Yang and Ruby went shopping. Her ears rose to attention at Ruby's announcement, but her eyes remained fixated to her book, almost shyly.

"Hello." was the only response that Ruby received from her dark-haired friend.

At the same moment, Yang opened the door and exited the bedroom, all the while putting her shirt back on. Her hair was messy and uncombed, and it looked like she may have been sweating in the near past.

"Hey Ruby! Me and Blake were just… Um…" Ruby decided she wouldn't let her sister try to finish her thought.

"You know what, don't tell me. Nope. Nope, I think I'd rather not know, thank you very much." Ruby said as she waved her hands around her head in an attempt to shoo away her less-than-Christian thoughts and looked away from the two others. Blake attempted to hide her increasingly reddening face behind her novel, while Yang's face bore a smile that expressed nervous guilt as she reached back and played with her beloved hair, brushing it with her fingers.

"So... You hungry Ruby? We could slap something together for a late supper or something." Yang tried to rid of the awkward silence that had befallen on the room. Ruby turned around to face them again, decidedly more pleased by this conversation than the previous.

"Yes, please!" she exclaimed.

"I'm not hungry." Blake commented. Yang turned a sly grin towards her partner.

"Of course you aren't. You've had **plenty** to eat today, haven't you?" Blake buried her nose deeper into her novel at Yang's lewd comment. Ruby's eyes narrowed pensively at Yang's words, trying and failing to understand what she was saying. She then turned and looked at Blake to gauge her reaction. Then it clicked. Ruby's eyes went wide. She quickly shut her eyes and covered her ears, as if she could prevent herself from hearing and understanding what Yang had said.

"Ew! Yang, that's gross! What did I just say?" Ruby yelled.

"Hey, I didn't say a thing." Yang defended innocently. Blake put her book to the side suddenly. She then got up and walked towards the kitchen.

"I'm making food. When the two of you are done... **discussing**... feel free come and join me." Ruby and Yang both stared at the black-haired Faunus as she walked into the kitchen. Ruby was the first to speak up after a few moments of silent staring.

"A bite to eat is all I was asking for." she said quietly as she followed through the kitchen door. A few moments later, Yang started towards the kitchen as well, a look of disappointment painted on her face.

"You two are no fun!" she called.

* * *

The three of them had some of the beef Yang picked up earlier in the day, along with some potatoes and the recently acquired wine. Ruby and Blake, both wanting to avoid the previous topic of conversation, started talking about books. This topic was deliberately picked for being one of the few common interests the two girls shared, as well as to spite Yang who showed no interest whatsoever in literacy.

"Speaking of books, how was work today Rubes?" Yang all but interrupted, in a desperate attempt to steer the conversation towards something even mildly more interesting. Ruby blinked a few times, processing the request for information after having turned to face her sister. A smile grew on her face as she prepared to speak. Blake sighed quietly, knowing her conversation on favourite authors with Ruby was lost at sea until further notice.

"Well, when I first got there, Dr. Oobleck came up to me like really fast! Then he told me he had things to do and was taking the rest of the day off and that's why he moved my shift to the evening, and that I'd be closing alone, and BOOM! He was gone, out the door! I barely even saw him-" Yang interrupted Ruby mid-speech, waving her hands in front of her.

"Wait wait wait wait! Who's this Ooblack guy again?"

"Oobleck. He's my boss," Ruby explained, "at the Library."

"Right! Ooblerck! I remember him!" Yang exclaimed. Ruby and Blake stared at her, unconvinced.

"You had no idea, did you?" Blake said.

"Not a clue." Yang admitted with a grin. Ruby was about to get back on topic, but Yang continued. "Wait a sec here! You said he's a doctor, right? What the hell is he doing working at a library? The hospitals are low since they took away the Faunus."

"There is more than one kind of doctor, Yang." Blake explained, slight exasperation in her voice, but it wasn't easy to tell with how monotone she could be.

"Yeah. He's got a doctorate in history. He even substituted at the school three years ago." Ruby continued.  
"You know, I don't have to understand. Just keep going." Yang replied cheerfully. Ruby sighed slightly before continuing.

"Anyway, he's got to be putting something in that coffee of his. I mean, he's practically super-human!"

"I'd like to see Blake try what he's having," Yang commented with yet another devious smirk, "might make for an interesting night."

"Yang, I don't think that'd be such a great idea. Remember back when we had Minou?" Ruby replied. Minou was a kitten Ruby and Yang had when they were kids, living in their family farmhouse in southern France. Minou had a terrible habit of dashing around the house, across the top of beds and through anything left lying around. In the middle of the night. While everyone was trying to sleep. Dad didn't like Minou very much.

"Fine, I guess." Yang said with a sigh of defeat. Blake thought about yet again defending the fact that she was not a cat, but decided against it. That argument was not one she wanted to partake in.

"Anything else interesting happen today, Ruby?" she asked instead. Ruby resumed her story once more.

"Um... no, not really. Oh, well, just before closing time, two police officers came in. One was kinda nice, but the other wasn't. A real harsh one. They were looking for some not-so-legal books and Faunus and stuff. Apparently, a group of _Résistance_ fighters is hiding out somewhere in the neighbourhood."

"I've heard the same." said Blake, before putting a piece of beef in her mouth. Ruby and Yang stared at her.

"How would **you** know that?" Ruby asked her. She started chewing very slowly, possibly in an attempt to create more time to formulate a convincing lie.

"I read it... In a newspaper..." Blake came up with when she was done chewing.

"You're a terrible liar. They wouldn't put something like that in the newspaper anyway." Yang replied. Blake sighed.

"I was asked to join." she admitted.

"By who?" Yang raised her voice.

"An old friend."

"When did this happen?" Ruby half-yelled. Blake's ears clung to the top of her head in reaction to the tone of Ruby's voice.

"When the two of you were out today. Letter passed under the door."

"You better not be thinking about it." the tone of Yang's voice was threatening, but its roots were based in concern.

"I don't plan on it." Blake responded. Yang sighed in relief.

"Well good. I don't need two idiots trying to get themselves killed." Ruby grunted and crossed her arms in disagreement.

"I'm not an idiot." She pouted.

"I call you that because I wuv you!" Yang sung as she got up and quickly moved to embrace her little sister. Ruby got up and ran around the table to avoid the barrage of hugs and kisses her sister was trying to launch onto her.

"Nonononononono. Yang, stop it!" she yelled. Blake calmly kept eating her supper, before weaving through the running siblings to wash her dishes.

* * *

The rest of the evening was relatively uneventful. After Ruby and Yang finally calmed down, they finished their supper. They deeply regretted wasting so much time as they ate their now cold food.

Ruby went to bed on her couch not too long after that, and so Yang had to make an effort to stay quiet. She and Blake stayed up an extra hour before also going to sleep for the rest of the night. Well, Yang slept for the rest of the night. Blake, on the other hand, woke up at almost two in the morning.

Blake slowly got up and out of bed, careful not to awaken the bear of a girl sleeping next to her. She proceeded to strip off her nightgown, and change into some more form-fitting clothes. When she was done with her clothes, she tied a black ribbon into a bow on her head in such a way that it hid her Faunus ears. After that, she silently exited the bedroom and entered the living room where Ruby slept. Both Yang and Ruby were relatively deep sleepers. There was little, if any, chance of waking either one by accident. Still, Blake moved carefully through the room. She went to the kitchen.

'_Unbelievable_.' Blake thought to herself. Neither Ruby nor Yang seemed to have cleaned up anything from the late supper. Dirty dishes, pots and pans were lazily spread around the kitchen and dining room area. Cleaning the supper time dishes was the **only** responsible Ruby and Yang had inside of the apartment, and they still managed to fuck it up.

Blake turned her attention away from the stress-inducing sight and towards her goal, the dining room window, which was one of only two windows in their apartment. Blake walked up to it and opened it. Peeking her head out, she breathed in the cool fresh air of the June evening. Their apartment was on the second floor, counting the ground floor, a little too far to drop down from comfortably. Luckily, each window on the apartment building was paired with a wrought-iron flower basket. Their basket was empty. Blake couldn't care for a flowerbed, since someone could see her leaning out of the window from the ground, and Ruby and Yang couldn't even take care of a few dishes.

Blake crawled out of the window and onto the wrought-iron basket. She closed the window behind her and looked up, another wrought-iron basket, this one also empty, by chance. Past that, Blake saw the edge of the rooftop. The building was only three stories tall. Anything taller would mean pricier rent, something Yang, Ruby and herself did not need, and couldn't afford anyway.

Blake jumped up and grabbed at the flower basket. Catching it, she pulled her dangling form up the wall and onto this basket. The edge of the roof was now only at her chin, and so she simply hoisted herself up onto the roof.

Blake sat on the roof for a few moments. Closing her eyes, she took another deep breath to savour the cool air again, then let it blow out smoothly from her open mouth. From here she could clearly see the dark Paris skyline. There wasn't much to see, she thought. Sure, there was the Eiffel tower off in the distance, but Blake never felt it was all that impressive. An ugly, roughly yet sturdily built structure made by a bridge designer for no other reason than to show off. Big Ben in London at least served a purpose. The Statue of Liberty in New York represented Freedom and Liberty. This tower meant nothing. She sighed.

Blake got to her feet and walked to the edge of the rooftop on the side nearest to the tower. The apartment building and the structures surrounding it were of similar shape and height. On top of that, they were less than a few feet apart, making it easy for her to hop from roof to roof. Doing so, she eventually got to a more industrial type building. This building had a service ladder from the ground to the roof. Blake took full advantage of it to get down, and found herself in the yard. A quick hop over the fence and she was in the streets. Maneuvering the nearly empty city streets, Blake kept to the shadows and alleyways. It was way past curfew and she didn't have an _Ausweis_. Not to mention the bow, though covering her Faunus ears completely, was just plain obvious. Even the dumbest of soldiers and _collabo_s would no doubt see through it.

She eventually found herself on _Nélaton _road, and followed it until she arrived at her destination: the _Vélodrome d'Hiver_. Blake escaped her prison of safety often to come here, close to once a week, but drifting to once a month and taking detours during the winter to avoid being followed back home.

She came here to remind herself of the events that had taken place here almost two years prior. She wasn't sure what it was that had happened, she had already started living secretly with Yang to avoid the flame of the angry French populace, but she knew that whatever it was, it was not pleasant. She could see it here, in front of her. Every door of the once inviting sporting stadium barred by chain and padlock. Every facet of the once bright skylight roof painted a gloomy dark blue. Every face of the once proud walls bearing the memory of the horrific events that took place within them. Blake shivered, and wiped a single tear from her cheek.

Remembering the grimness this place held was not the only thing Blake did when she came here though. She always reflected upon her day to cheer herself up. Whatever may have happened, it was always better than life in one of those damned camps.

Blake thought of today's events, starting with Yang's panicked and angry yet love-inspired entry to the day. Next came the quiet time she had cleaning and reading and after lunch, 'quality time' with Yang, then more reading. The day ended with a pleasant supper, where she had a nice discussion about books with Ruby before she talked about her day at work and… Oh yes. The letter. The one her friend passed under the door inviting her to join the _Résistance_ fighters as they now called themselves. She didn't want to get involved in the fighting, but she had seriously considered it for a moment, which was why she stowed the letter away in the bottom drawer of her nightstand rather than destroy it.

Blake shooed away the letter from her mind. She didn't want to think about it so much. All things considered, today was a good day, she thought.

"_Hé_,_ toi_!"

'_Merde_.' Blake winced and stiffened at the sound of the voice, and her ears twitched from underneath her bow.

"What are you doing out past curfew? Do you have an _Ausweis_?" asked a second voice.

'_Great, two._' Thought Blake. She spoke without turning around:

"No." She refused to face them. This was the end of her freedom. The end of any happiness she still held onto in this life. She would not face it, would not give it the privilege of seeing her face.

"Well you're under arrest. It's a crime to be out this late." The second voice replied.

"Hey wait a second… you wouldn't happen to have something hidden under that bow of yours, would you?" the first voice cut back in. Blake knew the men where far too close for her to give them the slip without taking a few bullets, but also way too far away for her to try and take them out barehanded. She was done. Caught. Doomed to go to Drancy. However that didn't mean she couldn't toy with her captors. She knew full well how much the Faunus scared them, and she took full advantage of it.

"Maybe," Blake answered, "I guess you'll just have to check for yourself."

Both men pulled their weapons, P38s, and pointed them at her. The second man nodded for the first to go get her. The man audibly gulped, a sound that Blake heard clearly and almost made her chuckle, before he started slowly moving closer and closer to her. When he got to her, he pressed the muzzle of his handgun into her back, and with his left hand reached up to remove the bow. Blake's two black cat ears greeted him in an almost mocking fashion. Blake couldn't see it, but the two French Police officers exchanged a look that blended wonder, fear, disgust and excitement.

"You're under arrest!" the second man yelled.

"And you're repeating yourse-" Blake's retort was cut short by the first officer, who had pistol-whipped her in the back of the head. She dropped to the ground like a bag of rocks.

"_Sacrebleu_, we got one of these stupid mutts!" the first policeman called to the second.

"Well I for one am not surprised in the slightest that I could get one. I'm a little more surprised that you managed to be helpful in making it happen." The second officer said, holstering his weapon.

"Helped? I did all the work!" the first one exclaimed, swinging his arms around.

"Ah, _ferme-toi_, Joseph." The second man told him, walking up to their prize.

"You're a _trou de cul_, you know that Marcel?" Marcel chuckled a bit, then they both turned their attention to Blake's immobile form on the ground before Joseph continued:

"What do we do with her now?"

"We bring her back to the station, hand her off to whoever deals with these psychos, then grab ourselves that fuckin' promotion we've been waiting on." Marcel cheered.

"You know, I take back what I said earlier. Today **was** a good day." Joseph affirmed.

* * *

**Author's Note: As promised, one week. The third will take much more time, I'm sorry. I only have a few hundred words in it so far, and all on paper. This one was written prior to the first one's release, all I had to do was fix it up. I hope to get chapter three done in two weeks, but no promises this time. Hopefully with the upcoming spring break I'll have an hour or two of extra free time to do everything my life demands of me and write per day. **

**I think this chapter was better than the previous, personally. Let me know what you guys and gals think! I did not anticipate to get such a good response for this story, so thank you, the lot of you. I love getting reviews and PMs and responding to them, and the advice you all give can only help make this story better. So leave a review, send me a PM, ask me questions or leave comments if you so feel the desire to, and have yourselves a good day. **

**_"One day I feel I'm ahead of the wheel, and the next it's rolling over me."  
– Far Cry, Snakes & Arrows (2007), Rush. _**


	3. Into The Darkness

**Chapter 3: Into The Darkness **

**June 4****th****, 1944.**

Yang slowly awoke in her bed, and smiled when she smelled Blake's pleasant smell emanating from beside her. However, when she opened her eyes, Blake was nowhere to be seen. She shot up, frantically darting around the room, hoping to see Blake's form somewhere in the bedroom. She saw nothing but the ugly pasty yellow colour of the walls and the mess that she always left lying around the room.

Yang tried to calm herself, realizing this was an exact repeat of the previous morning. She took a deep breath, then let it out hastily.

'_Calm down now Yang. She's fine. You probably overslept, and she's in the kitchen making coffee or something. Nothing to worry about!_' she tried to convince herself.

As if to shatter her hopeful theory, Yang's alarm clock rang throughout the bedroom. She moved frantically to stop it, not only because it bashed an important part of her theory, but also because the high-pitched ringing sounded like a call from the devil to her freshly awakened ears. Once the clock was taken care of, something she did by throwing it against the wall, Yang walked out of her bedroom and into the living room, **calmly**.

It was Sunday. Ruby had no school today, and so she was still sleeping peacefully when Yang 'calmly' burst into the room. Surprisingly enough, Ruby did not wake up. Instead, she snorted, twisted her frame into a more comfortable position, and cuddled her blanket tighter, before resuming her peaceful snooze.

At any other time, Yang would've gawked and awed at the cuteness of the scene that had presented itself to her, but for now, Blake's whereabouts were still in question. Yang looked around the living room, and seeing no signs of Blake, turned towards the kitchen door. Unlike the day before, the door as almost closed, left only a crack open. Yang marched towards it and pushed it open, fully hoping, but not expecting, to see Blake leaning against the counter with a cup of coffee in one hand and one of her damned books in the other. To her great displeasure and frustration, when the door swung open, it revealed an empty kitchen with nothing notable but last night's dirty dishes.

Yang searched the rest of the apartment impatiently, her frustration gradually increasing all the while doing so. The search proved fruitless, and so she had little options left. She decided that it would be best if she'd consult her sister, deciding against her first idea to beat the information concerning Blake's whereabouts out of the nearest soldier or police officer she could find.

"Ruby, wake up. Wake up, damn it!" Yang shook Ruby's shoulders until she re-entered consciousness. She blinked a few times, then looked at Yang confusedly.

"Yang? W-wait, what time is it? Oh, _merde_! Am I late for school?"

"No, it's Sunday. No school." Ruby visibly relaxed, letting out a sigh of relief, but confusion came back to her eyes quickly. She looked back up at Yang, who could see her confusion and also a hint of anger in her. Ruby didn't like to be woken before she had to, and Yang knew this very well, especially now.

"Wait, then why d'you wake me up? What time is it?" Ruby elevated her voice a tad.

"It's like, seven-something. That's not important, Ruby, Blake's gone!" Yang got distracted for just a moment before pulling herself back on track, raising her voice to match Ruby's.

"Gone? Gone where?" Ruby clearly wasn't picking up what Yang was putting down. Did she have to spell it out for her?

"I don't know! That's the problem here!" Yang's eyes had started to flicker wildly between their regular lilac colour and red, her self-control viciously fighting to hold back her fear, anger and frustration. "She wasn't in bed this morning and I checked everywhere else in the apartment. She's not here!"

"Okay, okay, uh… calm down Yang, maybe she just went for a walk or something? I don't know, look, she'll be back in no time. Blake's smart, I'm sure she's just fine." Ruby spoke nervously and was unsure of her answer, something that showed plainly in her voice.

"So what am I supposed to do? Ruby, I can't just sit here and wait when she could be out there suffering god knows what fate!" Yang's eyes now flickered red more than they did lilac, and tears of frustration slowly made their way from her eyelids to her cheeks. Yang took notice. She took a deep breath, and slowly yet shakily exhaled. She proceeded to pace around the living room to release some of her pent-up energy, all the while wiping away the tears from her face.

"Okay, Yang, listen to me," Ruby spoke authoritatively, taking control of the conversation, "You're going to work, just like any other day, and no 'but's. I'll stay here and wait for Blake to get back until you get back home." Yang was about to protest, but Ruby continued adamantly. "**If** she's not home by the time you get here, then and only then, can we think about doing something else to find her. Wouldn't it be silly if you went out and roughed up a few policemen just to find out she came back home safely while you were gone?"

Yang plopped down onto the armchair, leaning forward with her elbows on her knees. She slowly gave Ruby a nod.

"Fine," she started quietly, "but as soon as I get back, we're looking for her, period."

"That's only if she isn't back already." Ruby pointed out, trying to press the idea that Blake could be just fine.

"Right." Yang wasn't having any of it. Ruby frowned slightly in concern for how pessimistic Yang was being.

"Go. Go get dressed and ready. We still need you to put the bread on the table, right?" Ruby offered cheerfully.

"Uh-huh." Yang acknowledged grimly, almost absent-mindedly. She walked back to the bedroom and closed the door slowly. The gentle click of the latch both hid and emphasized the heart-wrenching emotional pain Yang felt all at the same time. Leaning her back against the door, she closed her eyes and exhaled again.

'_Maybe Ruby's right. Maybe Blake'll be fine. I should just go to work, do my job. I… I can take care of this problem later. If I don't show up today, I lose my job, and then we're all screwed. Right. This is the right decision. This is what I have to do._' Yang only managed to half-convince herself that this was the right thing to do, the other half consisting of her lying to herself. Still, it was enough for her to do as she was told.

She walked over to her clock, which lay on the floor next to her bed. Picking it up, she observed the still-ticking arms through the now cracked glass of the clock. Seven-twenty-eight. Great. Now she had barely half an hour to get ready and go to work.

Yang lazily let the clock roll out of her hand, and thankfully, onto her bed. She walked over to her dresser and got herself dressed. When she was done she wore a plaid skirt and a white blouse with a maroon-coloured vest overtop. It was her work uniform.

Now ready for work, Yang left the bedroom and walked swiftly and ungracefully through the living room and towards the door. So ungracefully in fact, that she stubbed her toe hard against the leg of the coffee table.

"_Maudit_!" Yang cursed the damned table, not only because she was in pain, but also because she had spilled a glass of water that Ruby must have left on it, one that had toppled from the impact of her unintentional kick. Yang grunted in frustration as she started to clean the mess, but as she did so, Ruby ran back into the room.

"Don't worry! I got this; you just go to work like I told you, okay?" without waiting for an answer, Ruby quickly got to cleaning the water off of the table and dabbing it out of the carpet. It was a damned good thing that it wasn't more of the red wine.

Yang simply sighed in reply to her sister, before finally leaving the apartment and heading for work.

* * *

Yang worked as a receptionist at the _Hôtel Lutetia_, a high-class hotel there in Paris. She was the beautiful, young, French woman who served to greet and check in and out the German counter-intelligence officers who had set up shop there, as well as all other 'friends of the Vichy Government'. Essentially, the only reason Yang had gotten the job was because the officer in charge of hiring French hotel staff knew that the important men that stayed at and came through there wanted to be greeted by a pretty face, among the other visually attractive qualities Yang possessed. She didn't mind being singled out in this way. _Au contraire_, she was thankful that this was how things were; it had scored her a job, and one that paid good too. Well, 'good'. As good as she could get considering the circumstances.

Though it did reward her with the money she and her roommates needed, she really didn't like her job. All she did was stand there at the reception and look pretty. New people didn't come by often, but when they did, they came all at the same time, usually all in Paris to take part in the same meeting after all. Same went for their departures too. Really, either she was slumped with people waiting to be checked in or out, or she agonizingly stood pretty on her feet for hours, waiting. On top of that, she had to smile and be nice to people who came in or out. Who wants to be nice to people all day?

Yang didn't like the job, but she sure did appreciate it. At least she had a job; life would be hell if she didn't. An apartment? Forget that. No way to hide her precious Faunus without it either.

Speaking of which, all day Yang only thought of one thing. Blake never left Yang's mind for even a single moment. It didn't help that today was one of those slow days. No one checking in, and no one checking out. No real work to distract her. Her other responsibilities were forgotten on top of that. She couldn't manage a smile or adequately greet the visitors and residents. Yang never was good at dealing with them; her hot-headed personality was the subject of many complaints. For this reason, she received another talk from her 'employer'. Sure, she was afraid of losing her job, but she was infinitely more afraid of losing Blake. She couldn't bear the thought of what would happen to her if indeed she did get captured. It was the unthinkable possibility, and yet it was all she could think and worry about. She hoped and prayed that she was worrying for nothing.

* * *

Blake's day started with a rather rude awakening. It was in the late afternoon. She had woken in a local police station holding cell, when a bucket's-worth of ice-cold water connected with her body. She was soon after loaded into a truck headed for Drancy, guarded by the same two police officers that look her in less than nine hours earlier. That's where she found herself now.

"I can't fuckin' believe we got assigned to transfer duty. What kind of bullshit is that?" Marcel announced.

"So much for that promotion." Joseph concurred.

"'Good job, now go ride in the back of the truck with the stinkin' animal. Oh, and go fuck yourselves too, while you're at it'!" Marcel paraphrased.

Blake took a moment to take note of her current situation. It didn't look good. Her captors still had their P38s, and this time, her wrists were bound behind her back.

Her hands were wet.

She could feel the blood between her fingers. She hadn't even realised she was bleeding until just now. How long has she been bleeding? She could feel blood on the edge of the wooden bench of the military personnel-carrying truck. She determined that she had been bleeding for at least a good deal of the trip so far. Damned chicken-wire. It was with that that she was restrained. Far from comfortable, but so tight it guaranteed she wouldn't slip out of it, despite the added lubrication her blood granted her. Then again, her captors probably didn't care that she was uncomfortable. Now aware of the injury, though, she felt her wrists aching. She ignored it. Not like she could do anything about it at that particular moment.

Instead she focused on the only other thing in the back of the truck with her, her guards. They sat opposite of her, the one referred to as Marcel to her left and Joseph to her right. They wore the standard police uniform, though Marcel had removed his cap and left it on the seat beside him. His luscious jet-black hair was combed back and gave off a clean shine, and combined with his vibrant green eyes, he looked vain. He gave off an air of arrogance. Through the limited conversation she picked up during the journey so far, she knew his character was rotten. Not a monster, but surely an unpleasant person who most likely puts on a façade of charm for others to see.

His 'friend' Joseph was not the same. He seemed submissive, Marcel definitely being the dominant party of the so called friendship she detected. Even his appearance was submissive. He had regular brown hair, the kind that wouldn't catch any eyes. His eyes were actually an interesting shade of hazel, but not one you'd notice unless you stared. Even his face looked bland and uninteresting.

Blake's eyes drifted from his face to his weapon, which, unlike his partner, he held loosely in his right hand. He was vaguely aware of his task, guarding, but was both too tired and too bored to pay it too much attention.

A spark went off in Blake's mind. An idea. A spark of hope. What she thought of was a plan. A possibility to escape. In theory, she could charge Joseph; maybe throw herself backwards onto him. She was restrained, but she could still use her hands somewhat. With any luck, she could wrestle a grip on the pistol and fire it at both Joseph and Marcel; preferably before this latter could even pull his. They were the immediate threat of course. She would have to take out the driver too before he could figure out what was going on and react. She'd have very little time, and her grip on the pistol would be awkward at best, so she would have to make her shots count.

After that, it will depend on if they were still in the city or not. If they were she would have very little time to try and cut her restraints, perhaps with a sharp edge on the truck, before she'd have to drive away. The gunshots will not go unheard. It would be better if they were outside of the city. Drancy was on the outskirts of Paris so that was a possibility. In that case, she could take her time to get the chicken-wire off. She could plan her next course of action. Maybe put on one of the police uniform? Joseph wasn't beefy by any means, his might fit well enough. She could drive back into the city during the night, ditch the truck in the industrial district and get home from there. But again, what if she was in the city? She'd have to drive fast. She couldn't keep the truck for long, it would get her caught. She'd have to find a place to hide. Ah, fuck it. If she's in the city, she'll think on her feet. She was pretty sure they were outside of it anyway.

She had been concentrating on the plan for a small while now. She looked back up at Joseph and Marcel. Nothing substantial had changed. Only Marcel had put his cap back on. Blake thought about why for a moment, but quickly regained her focus; it wasn't important. '_In theory, this could work._' She thought. In theory, sure, it could work. But theory means nothing if it doesn't work in practice. She could very well fail miserably and die, but she decided that she had a better chance of escaping now than in the camp.

Blake prepared herself to execute the first part of her plan. She adjusted herself in her seat and pulled her hands as far away from each other as she could make them, to give herself the largest spectrum of success in grappling the pistol. She stared intently at the blued steel of the weapon, her target fixated, her hips in the perfect position to jump up and throw herself at it. She was just about to go when she suddenly felt the truck slow down and gently jerk to a halt.

'_Oh _non_. No no no no no no NO!_' Blake watched almost horrified as Marcel and Joseph got up and slowly made their way towards the back of the truck. Joseph brushed away the canvas rear cover and lowered the tailgate, before climbing down onto the dirt road bellow.

"C'mon you little bitch, this is your stop." Marcel sneered derisively. And so it was. It was too late. She hadn't the time to even begin her plan. Her one chance, gone before she even got to take it. Blake rose to her feet. Her head hung low; her eyes turned glassy. She stumbled slowly towards the back of the truck. When she got near the edge, she hesitated, not completely sure how to get down without the use of her hands. Her hesitation did not go unnoticed, and it wasn't appreciated.

"Don't be shy, _vas-y_!" Marcel gave Blake a solid shove, one that sent her plunging forward into the ground. The right side of her face was first to connect with the solid, dusty dirt ground. The rest of her body followed like a bag of meat, first with her chest, then her hips and knees. Her momentum also sent her skidding a few feet across the road. Her face, right arm and knees were scrapped up, her hips were sore, she had pulsating pain in her bust, and she got the wind knocked out of her.

"Bahahaha! _Mon dieu_, d'you see that JoJo? That was gold!" Marcel lowered himself down to the ground next to Blake, who was still coughing and gasping for breath through the dusty air of the dirt road. Marcel snickered at her, but Joseph expressed plain disinterest.

"Can we just get on with it? This place is ugly, and reeks. I don't want to spend a moment here more than I have to." Joseph's voice seemed somewhat uncomfortable with the situation and the place. He wasn't enjoying himself as much as Marcel was, that's for sure.

"You're right. C'mon you little scared-y cat, what'chta so afraid of? I'm sure it must be paradise in there!" With that, Marcel grabbed a handful of her hair and yanked her up onto her knees.

"A-AAH! Aaaahh!" Blake cringed and yelled. Marcel continued and pulled harder until he got her to her feet, Blake yelling out once more. The fear he once had of her has now completely evaporated with the presence of her restraints.

"Welcome to your new home, _maudite pute_." He gave her another push forward. She stumbled, but kept her footing. She growled internally at the provocation, but then she looked up at what was presented in front of her.

Drancy. The damned camp.

Directly in front of her was the entranceway. Large wrought-iron gates connected to the outside perimeter fence served as a checkpoint into the main complex of buildings. The few near the front, Blake could only assume were related to the reception of Faunus and other prisoners, but there was one more building all the way in the back of the complex. It was the Drancy apartment building.

It had been under construction before the war. Its construction was put on hold when the war started, and then the Vichy government quickly finished and repurposed it shortly after they were put in power. First an internment camp was built around it, but it was changed to a concentration camp for _Opération Vent Printanier_. It was mostly comprised of dark red brick, the corners and various edges comprised of off-white coloured pillars, which seemed to be almost grey being surrounded by the greyer scenery around it. Those pillars also comprised the entranceway of the building, which was situated front and centre on the face of the three story building. On the left side of the third story was a large balcony.

To the left of the building complex was the rest of the camp. Looking towards that side, Blake could see a second fence on the inside of the outer perimeter fence, but couldn't quite see what was past it due to the angle.

Blake herself knew very little about the camp. All she knew were the stories she heard from her friend every time they wrote her a letter to try to convince her to join the _Résistance_. She knew this place was bad, some of the stories she read were horrific, but she refused to believe it was that bad. It couldn't be, could it?

Joseph spoke up, looking down at a small notebook. "Alright, we are supposed to be meeting with a _Leutnant_ J-"

"Call me Junior." The man said. All looked forward at the sound of the voice that came from right in front of them. Junior had dark, nicely cropped hair and a similar styled beard that claimed his face. He was tall and of large frame, and neatly wore a Nazi SS uniform.

He stood behind the gates as they were opened by two Vichy police officers, and seemed to have appeared out of thin air.

"Where did you…? Never mind. I don't care. You're taking this animal off our hands, right? That's great. She's all yours, I for one, will be headed home. I'm tired after all this mess." Marcel started to walk back towards the truck.

"No you won't." As Junior spoke, the truck, that had until that moment waited on the road, accelerated and drove off. Marcel stopped in his tracks. Junior's German accent was smooth and not too heavy, one could easily miss it at first, but it was almost mocking Marcel nonetheless.

"**Excuse** you?" he asked, turning around.

"_Herr_ Marcel Beauchamp, am I right? And your friend here is _Herr_ Turcotte, yes?" Junior blended some German into his French, and a sly smirk showed at the corner of his mouth. "The two of you actually have business to attend to in the apartment building over there. You will report to the _Oberleutnant_, who will answer all the questions you could have." Blake couldn't help but giggle internally. Her two guards were dumbstruck, and obviously displeased that they had to stay here longer. Seeing them squirming under their skin was somewhat satisfying; she subconsciously used it to distract herself of her own much more dire situation.

"Don't keep the _Oberleutnant _waiting, now. He can be really impatient when he wants to." Junior spoke up, a few moments of silence having aroused among the group. Joseph sighed.

"Come on, Marcel, let's go." Joseph walked into the complex and towards the Drancy building. Marcel stood after him speechless for a few moments before he spoke up again.

"_Maudit_. Hey! JoJo, wait up!" Marcel took off after him, leaving Blake practically alone with Junior.

"Now," Junior started, grabbing Blake's attention away from the two policemen, "let's get started, shall we?"

* * *

Blake found herself in the centre of a large shower room. It was part of a large one story building she was directed to on the left side of the complex, next to what she assumed was the main camp. The room didn't look well kept. The white tiles seemed to be mostly covered by a thin film of what she could only assume was some kind of mold. Only half the room was covered by the tiling, the other half seeming to be only bare concrete. On that side, a large pressure hose lay lazily on the ground. It looked almost like a fire-fighter's hose, in terms of size.

In the middle of Blake's observation of her surroundings, the door that was on the concrete side of the room clicked open, and Junior emerged into the room. He wasn't dressed as he was before. His uniform jacket was left behind, replaced with a white apron atop his undershirt. The apron had an uncountable number of stains on it, of which at least half looked to be blood. His exposed arms were massive. They looked like they could probably crush a person to death all on their own. They probably could, which would explain why he was the only person keeping tabs on her at the moment.

Junior approached her wordlessly; he held a pair of wire-cutters in his right hand. He moved around her to her back and grabbed her bound hands with his left hand. He slowly moved the wire-cutters closer to her bindings, but then he placed them around her right hand ring finger. The cold steel edges pressed lightly against her skin felt like a death grip.

"I've always wondered if I could take a finger off with these dull things." Blake could feel the wire-cutters' edges slowly squeezing on the sides of her finger. Blake bit down on her lower lip to keep herself from yelling out as the blunt edges crushed the various levels of her skin, muscles, capillaries, tendons and just about anything else fleshy in her finger. Seconds turned to minutes in Blake's mind, the pain gradually increasing, far surpassing any pain she had ever felt before. It got to the point where Blake had chewed right into her lower lip, blood dripped slowly off her chin but Blake took no notice, the excruciating pain in her finger distracting her completely. Junior soon reached the bone, and when Blake thought her finger was just about to split open, the vice-like grip that held it slacked suddenly. Blake inhaled sharply as she tensed in reaction to the release.

"Mmm… _Nein_. _Nein_, that's something for another day." Junior spoke to himself in German. He repositioned his wire-cutters and removed the chicken-wire. As soon as they were released, Blake brought her hands up to her chest and tended to her wrists and finger. Junior shoved the wire-cutters in his pocket and walked back to the concrete side of the room.

"Everything off. Now." Blake looked up at the man, malice engrained in her face. Junior's face was plain though, serious. He took notice that Blake wasn't going to do as she was told just yet.

"I have permission to do whatever I need to do to make you do what I say. Don't make me repeat myself." He continued. Blake glared at him for a few more moments before slowly and carefully taking off her clothes, making sure to always be covering herself with her arms while doing so. In the end she stood completely naked in the centre of the tiled half of the floor, her arms covering her nether regions and her bust, and her clothes in a pile next to her. Junior shook his head.

"No sense covering some of your parts, the rest of you is just as disgusting." He turned to the hose by his feet and picked it up. "This may be a little cold, but you don't mind, do you? Cats love water." With that, Junior pulled the large lever for the water, sending a jet of the pressurised liquid over at Blake. The water was indeed very cold, it was even colder than the water she was woken up with, but the force behind it was much worse. The stream was so powerful; Blake felt as if both Yang and Ruby were laying on top of her, a weight she knew of from experience. She opted to protect her face with her hands as opposed to her more sensitive regions. Junior wasn't discriminating any part of her body with the water, ultimately making her efforts to protect her face fruitful.

Junior sent the water downrange at her for what felt like a half-hour, but it was probably closer to a full minute. When he shut the water off, Blake returned her hands to her body, both to shield herself and now in a vain attempt to warm herself up. Her entire body stung, prickling, almost like when you'd sleep on a limb for too long, but exponentially worse. Her delicate zones were the worst affected, and everything hurt to the touch.

"Don't keep me waiting." Junior said as he held open the door from which he had first entered. Blake stumbled wordlessly to the door, leaving a trail of wet, awkward footprints and water droplets on the cold concrete floor.

The room she stepped into now looked to her almost like a small infirmary. Spotless white walls and floor tiling gave it that sterilized look about it. On the right side of the room lay a few empty gurneys lined up against the right side wall. To her left rested what at first glance would look like a simple chair, but further inspection revealed the leather straps on the arms and the fact that it was bolted to the ground. A little further forward was a contraption that Blake did not know the use for, and she wasn't eager to find out either. It seemed to hold a large vise up about five or six feet in the air, its opening facing outwardly and oriented vertically. To her left, on the wall beside the chair, was a shelf with sets of stripped grey camp uniforms. On the left side wall, between the chair and the mysterious contraption, was a large white cabinet, the contents of which Blake could only guess. This room had two other doors, situated on the far wall opposite of her. One was labelled 'Out', the other, 'Infirmary'. From this, Blake determined this room was not the infirmary, but rather more likely a processing room for the new inmates such as herself.

Junior followed her in, shut the door behind him, and moved towards the uniform shelf. He picked up a set and handed it to Blake.

"Put it on, and be quick about it." Blake took the clothes and obliged. Though they were less than ideal, Blake felt she would feel more comfortable wearing them than not.

It didn't take her long to get fully dressed, and when she was done, she was very quickly directed to the chair.

"Sit." At this point, Blake followed the orders she was given without a word or objection. She was fearful of what might happen if she didn't. There was no use in resisting right now. Her plan at this point consisted simply of toughing it out until she could come up with a real plan.

Once she was seated, Junior tightened the straps around her wrists, to the point where it hurt the open wounds caused by her previous restraints. He walked over to the white cabinet and opened it. He pulled out a measuring tape, and then a pair of scissors. Content with his choosings, he closed the cabinet and walked back to the chair. Junior sighed as he started.

"Let's see here." He brought the measuring tape up to the top of Blake's head, and pressed them against Blake's ears. Instinctively, her ears flattened in defense.

"Don't. Straight up." Blake quickly did as she was told, once more. Ears now straight, Junior measured their height with the tape.

"Two… No, one and three quarters? _Verdammt_." Junior pulled back and sighed, disappointed. Blake was somewhat worried by Junior's reaction. What could it mean? What was he verifying? Was this going to be bad for her?

"Today's your lucky day, _Schweinehund_. You get to keep those nasty ears of yours." Blake was relieved to hear that. She wasn't sure what had saved her, but she didn't really care. What was important was that her ears were going to remain perfectly intact.

Junior put away the measuring tape and pulled out the scissors.

"I can't say the same about your putrid hair, though." Junior began grasping handfuls of Blake's hair and mercilessly cutting them off with the scissors. Blake didn't want to protest. For all she knew, objecting in any way at all could make the man change his mind about her ears.

Junior was being reckless in his cutting. Not surprising, it's not like he cared much about Blake's wellbeing, after all. He was throwing the blades into her hair, jabbing at her scalp more than once in the process.

"Woops." Junior exclaimed sarcastically. His hand slipped, directing the blades of the scissors around Blake's left cat ear. Snip. A clean, bloody line was cut into the cartilage of Blake's ear. Blake remained as motionless and emotionless as she could. Despite herself, tears began to creep their way from Blake's eyes slowly as the wound began to sting.

Junior continued to cut away at the hair indiscriminately, until all of Blake's hair was cut down to less than three inches. The cuts were uneven and hastily executed. Blake was happy in a sense, that she couldn't see herself at that particular moment. All bruised and bloodied, she mustn't have been a pretty sight.

Junior put the measuring tape and scissors back in the cabinet, before returning to Blake and removing the leather straps from her wrists. Blake remained where she was, waiting for her orders before assuming she was permitted to stand.

"Stand up, you damned animal!" Junior gave the back of Blake's head a good whack and she carried out the order. It would seem that whatever she did, to do only what she was told or to assume desired courses of action, she would be punished for it. No way to win.

"Out this way, you wouldn't want to be late for the party, would you?" Junior directed her to the door labelled 'Out'. As she crossed the threshold of the doorway, she found herself in the somewhat blinding light of day, outside. Just up ahead of her and to her left, was the barbed-wire gate to the camp. It seemed just as large as the iron outer gate, but much more secure and more guarded. Blake walked slowly but steadily towards it. The dry dirt ground was hot like sand under her still-bare feet. When she was directly in front of the gate, the guards opened it just enough for her to pass through.

"What are you waiting for? Go ahead." Junior shoved Blake into the camp, the gates swiftly closed after her. Blake now lay in the hot dirt behind the camp gate. She was inside the Drancy concentration camp.

* * *

**Author's Note: First off, let me just say I'm so terribly sorry for the very very long wait on this chapter. I have no valid excuse for it. I have excuses, but no good ones. Sadly, I don't see the next chapter coming any quicker. It'll come, don't worry, my tardiness is not a sign of giving up or loss of interest by any means. Hopefully, the coming construction season, often referred to as "summer", will give me more time to write. **

**Another thing, I had mentioned that the story might go up to an M rating, the reason why starting to become apparent here in this chapter. Let me know if you think that this deserves an M rating, because I'm not sure. **

**I would like to thank darkmoonrise312, Okdes and ElysiaDreaming for their **_**wunderbar**_** help with some of the German in this chapter. **

**Once again, if you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave a review or send me a PM. Criticism is also very welcome. I appreciate every bit of it. There's something irking me about my writing, something I must be doing wrong, I just don't know what. **

**Anyway, I hope you all liked the chapter, and I hope you can all bear with me and my slow update rate. **

"_**Ultimately they will become empty, mindless specters… Stripped of will and soul, only their thirst for freedom gives them hunger for vengeance."  
– The Necromancer, Caress of Steel (1975), Rush.**_


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